Mexican leaders have significantly stepped up arrests of migrants heading to the United States, providing relief to President Joe Biden as he seeks reelection.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador Unprecedented level The result was a decline in the number of migrants faced by U.S. federal immigration authorities, who are expected to see more than 1 million migrant arrests in 2024. The drop in migration helped ease a major headache for Biden, whose approval ratings have slumped over immigration issues, but questions remain about whether Mexican leaders will maintain their will to crack down on illegal immigration after the U.S. presidential election. (Related: Biden administration fails to properly monitor Afghan refugees in US, watchdog says)
There were just under 180,000 encounters with migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border in April, down slightly from the previous month and the lowest April encounter rate since 2021. according to This is the latest monthly data released by Customs and Border Protection. The May figures are expected to be released in the next few days.
The decline in migrant numbers seen by US immigration officials has roughly coincided with a significant increase in immigration crackdowns by Mexican authorities.
Mexico’s migration policy agency encountered about 120,000 migrants for the fourth consecutive month. according to Nearly a year ago, Mexican authorities had never reported apprehending or encountering more than 52,201 migrants in a single month, according to data compiled by the Washington Office on Latin America, a nonpartisan research and advocacy group based in Washington, D.C.
Mexico is said to have intercepted or encountered about 481,000 migrants between January and April, a 231% increase from the same period last year.
The support from Lopez Obrador’s administration comes at a time when Biden faces a tough reelection bid and polls show the crisis on the southern border is hurting his brand, with recent surveys showing illegal immigration is now the top concern for Americans. Most voters Former President Donald Trump could handle this issue better than the current president in the White House.
WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 12: U.S. President Joe Biden hosts Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC on July 12, 2022. (Photo by Chris Kerponis Pool/Getty Images)
The illegal immigration crisis appears to have shifted Americans to the right on this issue, with polls showing that many voters now support the coercive measures promoted by President Trump, including mass deportations, a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, detention centers for illegal immigrants awaiting deportation, and the use of the military to assist with deportations.
President Trump threatened to impose tough tariffs if the Mexican government did not comply with his border security demands, and called on the Mexican leader to “Strong measures” They oppose the flow of migrants from Central America passing through their country.
Trump also enacted the Migrant Protection Protocols, or Remain in Mexico, which allowed many asylum seekers to remain in Mexico while awaiting their immigration court cases, eliminating a major incentive for illegal immigration, but the Biden administration has halted that effort. Biden has signed a series of bills into law. Presidential Decree On his first day in office, he almost completely repealed President Trump’s immigration policies.
The Biden administration has since experienced record levels of illegal immigration, with many Democrats in Congress formally condemning its handling of the issue.
The move to help Mexico with border security comes at an opportune time for Biden as he faces a close race against a Republican opponent known for being an immigration hardliner, and some experts have questioned its timing.
“The political motivation behind Mexico’s recent immigration crackdown seems undeniable given the timing,” Andres Martinez-Fernandez, senior policy analyst for Latin America at the Heritage Foundation, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. Martinez-Fernandez also noted that Mexico’s increased crackdown gives Biden the added benefit of avoiding a dramatic increase in enforcement that would be antagonized by left-leaning supporters sympathetic to immigrants.
“President Biden appears to be actively trying to avoid confrontational scenes with migrants at the US border due to the prospect of a backlash from his base. Instead, the Biden administration is effectively outsourcing immigration enforcement to the Mexican government, giving President Lopez Obrador greater influence over the US,” Martinez Fernandez said.
Lopez Obrador has in the past made outrageous demands in exchange for stemming the flow of illegal immigrants into the United States.
CIUDAD ACUNA, TX – SEPTEMBER 19: Migrants, mostly from Haiti, gather on the banks of the Rio Grande River in Ciudad Acuna, Mexico, just across the border from Del Rio, Texas, on September 19, 2021. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
In an interview with “60 Minutes” earlier this year, the leftist Mexican president was suggested His administration could step up enforcement measures if the U.S. were to provide $20 billion a year to impoverished Latin American and Caribbean countries, lift sanctions on the socialist Venezuelan government, end the trade embargo on Cuba and legalize millions of Mexican citizens living in the U.S. illegally.
Trump, In response He said those demands stemmed from a “lack of respect” for Biden and that a Republican administration would not give Mexico “a dime.”
Mexico holds its own presidential elections on sundayPresident Lopez Obrador is due to step down soon due to his term limit, but his preferred successor, Claudia Scheinbaum, is leading the polls.
“When it comes to US-Mexico relations, the Biden administration does not use the so-called stick, so the question is what carrot the US has given to the Lopez Obrador administration to secure renewed support for stopping migration,” Martínez Fernández said of the situation. “While the Biden administration has not handed over billions of dollars in cash to Latin American countries so far, the White House has “pulled back” on pressure on Mexico regarding drug corruption, fentanyl trafficking and trade disputes, the senior policy analyst noted.
The US has seen a decline in encounters with migrants at the southern border, but it remains to be seen whether that trend will continue after the presidential election, which Martinez-Fernandez warned would see a massive return of migrants.
“Given the shoddy nature of Mexico’s current immigration crackdown and the continued permissiveness of President Biden’s border policy, it is very likely that the United States will once again face a large increase in migration after November, or whenever the Mexican government changes its mind,” he said.
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